Archive

Amnesty International’s ‘Write for Rights’ Campaign by Jared D Cohn

The “Write for Rights” campaign is one of Amnesty International’s most important initiatives for lobbying for human rights. Every December, during “Write for Rights”, supporters from across the globe write letters on behalf of people whose human rights are being violated. The letters are sent to the governments accused of human rights abuses with the hope that they will add to the pressure to release those being held and/or to effect social change.

This year, the Tufts Chapter of Amnesty International focused on four individuals. Our first campaign is to attempt to free Manhadine, a citizen of Chad, from imprisonment for posting a video on Facebook that criticized the Chadian government. Our second case is to attempt to free the “Istanbul 10” who were imprisoned for attending a human rights workshop in Turkey and were labelled as terrorists. Our third case is to honor the life of Xulhaz Mannan, an LGBT+ activist from Bangladesh who was savagely murdered for advocating for the LGBT community, and to send letters to the government to decry such atrocities. Our fourth case is to attempt to free Hanan from Egyptian imprisonment for attempting to ascertain the whereabouts of her husband who disappeared in 2013.

Over the years, these campaigns have freed prisoners of conscience, saved the lives of human rights defenders under attack, stopped torture and put an end to some of the world’s worse human rights abuses. Ultimately, we are thrilled to announce that 200 letters were signed and are being sent to the respective governments. We want to thank everyone who participated and joined the fight for human rights.